Minor in Environmental Studies

Students who minor in Environmental Studies join our vibrant community to develop innovative solutions to help bring about a more equitable and sustainable world.

Like our majors, they can pursue learning opportunities from the Puget Sound bioregion to locations around the globe, bridging knowledge from different fields with hands-on experience. Through their work, they help build our understanding of who we are as humans and how we inhabit the world.

By pairing the minor with a major in the sciences, social sciences, humanities or a professional field, students will acquire an understanding of how to effectively address environmental challenges and opportunities. They bring this knowledge and experience to their work in the public or private sectors, STEM fields, graduate programs and more.

Declaring a Minor in Environmental Studies

Students in good academic standing may declare the minor at any time by meeting with their major adviser. Please see Undergraduate Advising’s Minor page for additional considerations about earning a minor.

If you have specific questions about the Environmental Studies minor, please contact the adviser, Ana Wieman, at wieman@uw.edu.

Course Requirements

The Environmental Studies minor course requirements are listed below. The minor requires 30 credits.

ENVIR Core Courses
(10 Credits)

 Two courses:

  1. ENVIR 100
    Environmental Studies: Interdisciplinary Foundations
  2. One course from below:
    • ENVIR 200
      Environmental Studies: Research and Communication
    • ENVIR 250
      Environmental Studies: Data Types and Collection Methods

Additional Requirement
(5 Credits)

 One course:

ECON / ENVIR / ESRM 235

or

HSTAA / ENVIR 221

or

ENVIR / PHIL 243

Perspectives and Experiences
(≥ 15 credits)

Consult the list of previously approved courses.

A minimum of 3 credits must be completed in each of the following Environmental Perspectives and Experiences area for a total of 15 credits. The overall GPA must be 2.0 or higher.

  • Human and Social Dimensions
  • Natural Sciences
  • Policy and Decision Making

Additional Perspectives and Experiences Notes:

  • Courses may be listed in multiple categories, however, any individual course is not allowed to meet more than one category requirement.
  • All courses must be upper division (300 or 400 level) courses.
  • To request that a course not on the approved list be used to fulfill this requirement, please submit a completed course exception petition to wieman@uw.edu.